OnTheIssuesLogo

Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins on Principles & Values

 

 


The platonic ideal of politics is disagreeing agreeably

As a committee chair, you can bottle stuff up. You can slow stuff down. You can kill stuff. And it impedes that fundamental process of legislating. And I was really focused on moving as much legislation that was good out of my committee. And by the numbers, I was highly successful at that. Which, ironically, was almost never my own legislation.

The second thing I was really focused on as a committee chair is treating everyone fairly, and good ideas are good ideas no matter who has them or what party they belong to. I made a point every Legislature that the first bill I would hear and move out of my committee was a minority Republican bill, and I felt that was important to send the signal that I wasn't playing partisan games. Everyone would have a fair hearing.

I'm not going to agree with everyone all the time. I think the platonic ideal of politics is disagreeing agreeably. I believe in the politics of civility, and as a legislator, I worked really hard to uphold those ideals.

Source: Alaska Public Media on 2026 Alaska Gubernatorial race , Aug 6, 2026

Other governors on Principles & Values: Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins on other issues:
AK Gubernatorial:
Bernadette Wilson
Bill Walker
Billy Toien
Christopher Kurka
Click Bishop
Les Gara
Mike Dunleavy
Nancy Dahlstrom
Tom Begich
AK Senatorial:
Andy Barr
Dan Sullivan
Kelly Tshibaka
Lisa Murkowski
Mary Peltola

Abortion
Budget/Economy
Civil Rights
Corporations
Crime
Drugs
Education
Energy/Oil
Environment
Families/Children
Foreign Policy
Free Trade
Govt. Reform
Gun Control
Health Care
Homeland Security
Immigration
Infrastructure/Technology
Jobs
Local Issues
Principles/Values
Social Security
Tax Reform
War/Iraq/Mideast
Welfare/Poverty

[Title9]





Page last updated: Sep 26, 2026; copyright 1999-2022 Jesse Gordon and OnTheIssues.org